Pie holder



Nov. 6, 1945. v REYBURN 2,388,442

PIE HOLDER Filed Feb. 18, 1944' INVENTOR. 'VEJPNUN 5. .EE'IEUHN.

BY .ATTCZEAE r.

Patented Nov. 6, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a practical pie holder in which a cut or a slice of pie or cake may be carried in a lunch box or out of it, without the danger of being crushed. Another purpose of my invention is to provide a holder which is compact, simple in its mechanical construction and which aifords easy access to all parts to be cleaned or washed.

The holder includes certain refinements such as means to prevent the contents of the holder from shifting their position within said holder. It also includes means to accommodate the marginal crust of the pie which may rise above the main level of the rest of the pie.

I shall now describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the holder in its open position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, sectional longitudinal view of the holder in its closed position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the holder, also enlarged, on line 8-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan elevation of the holder as it appears when it is closed.

similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The holder may be made of sheet metal, plastic or some other suitable material. However, it may be mentioned here that bare metal as a substance for the manufacture of the holder may not be desirable because of the objectionable odor which may emanate from the metal coming in contact with acids, such as fruit acids of a pie filler. For this reason it would be advisable to have the metal surface coated with a suitable film of an acid resisting material, or to have removable liners in the holder.

structurally, the holder consists of two parts, a tray I0, and what may be termed a cover IS. The tray is substantially triangular in shape and fiat, having one open side II. On the opposite side, the tray has a wall l3, while a curved end wall l2, extends between the two sides of the tray. Where wall l3 abuts the narrower end of the tray, it includes a substantially circular flange l4 projecting therefrom parallel to the surface of the tray. The flange contains a centrally located aperture for accommodation of a bolt [8. The latter serves as a means to connect pivotally cover 49 to tray ID, as shown in the drawing. Rising from the fiat surface of the tray are a number of cone-like projections l1. These are intended to imbed themselves into the lower side of the pie, to hold it'in place against shifting its position while the holder is being carried. The projections may be substituted by low spikes, fins or other suitable means.

As will be seen in the drawing, cover H which is intended to serve as a complementary part of the holder, is also triangular in shape and is connected to tray ID by means of a bolt IS. The bolt being placed at the narrow end of both the tray and the cover, respectively, it is possible to spread these two complementary parts fan-wise as shown in Fig. 1. When the parts of the holder are so spread, it is easy to place a cut of pie on the tray or to remove it therefrom by sliding it oil. the tray on its open side i I, although said pie must first be raised above projections I'I.

Cover is is flat with the exception of its outer arc-shaped portion 24 which is domed to rise above the marginal crust of pie in the holder. One side of cover I9 is open. At the opposite side, the straight one, the cover has a wall 2|, turned down from its main fiat portion. Integrally connected therewith is a flange 22, disposed parallel to the main portion of cover l9, and running along said w'all 2| and along the outwardly curved wall 23, which forms the third side of the cover. The flange serves as a support for the lower surface of tray in when both parts, l0 and I9 are in a closed relation to each other. As is apparent from the drawing, the two parts of the holder, each being substantially triangular or V-sh'aped in form, may be swung together from their respective narrow ends, so that tray Ill assumes its position directly under the fiat surface of cover l9. This is shown in Fig. 4. In order that both parts may be held together in a closed position a friction lug I6 extending from wall I3, engages the upper surface of cover l9 as shown in Fig. 4.

It will be obvious that the structure of the holder may be modified tosome extent without at all departing from the inventive principle shown and described by me. What I, therefore, wish to claim is as follows:

A pie holder of the kind described, comprising two parts: a fiat, substantially triangular tray, having two straight sides and an outwardly curved third side, one of the straight sides being open and the other sides being provided with upright walls, and a complementary part of the same substantially triangular shape, having one open side and two sides with walls extending downwardly, the two parts being normally in a spaced relation one above the other, and hinged to swing apart in parallel planes.

VERNON E. REYBURN. 

